US rig owner Transocean accused of compromising safety in North Sea

Unions argue that abusive behaviour and racism are widespread and wants shake-up of system in light of worsening safety record

Transocean has so far managed to avoid the kind of acute scrutiny given to BP over the Macondo well, but the British oil company is expected to criticise the rig operator when it publishes its own internal investigation into what went wrong.
Photograph: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Sunday 5 September 2010 17.21 EDT
First published on Sunday 5 September 2010 17.21 EDT

Transocean, the American rig owner at the centre of BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, has been accused of compromising safety in the North Sea by "bullying, harassment and intimidation" of its staff.

The allegations, in a damning report by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) seen by the Guardian, will deeply embarrass Transocean, which on Tuesday appears before a House of Commons investigation into the lessons to be learnt from the Deepwater Horizon spill.

The offshore and transport union, RMT, argues that abusive behaviour and racism towards an increasingly multinational workforce in the North Sea are widespread, and it wants a huge shake-up of the system in the light of a worsening safety record.

The allegations came as Thad Allen, the US official leading the Deepwater Horizon cleanup, said an important milestone had been reached with the replacement of the blowout preventer that failed to stop the flow of oil in the original accident. He said the original device had been hauled to the surface for investigators to determine what went wrong.

The HSE reported less than two weeks ago that the combined fatal and major injury rate had almost doubled, rising to 192 per 100,000 workers in 2009-10 from 106 12 months earlier. There was also a big increase in hydrocarbon releases, from 61 to 85 – raising the possibility of fires and explosions offshore, the kind of accident that triggered the Piper Alpha disaster, in which 167 UK workers died.

Transocean has so far managed to avoid the kind of acute scrutiny given to BP over the Macondo well, but the British oil company is expected to criticise the rig operator when it publishes its own internal investigation into what went wrong. The HSE "specialist inspection report" resulted from a visit to four rigs operated by Transocean Offshore (North Sea) Ltd, including the John Shaw and Sedco 711, in the summer and autumn of last year.

The HSE report says: "The company has not considered the human contribution to safety in a structured and systematic manner," and says the organisational culture is based on blame and intolerance.

Most damagingly, the report says instances of unacceptable behaviour by offshore management were raised with HSE inspectors by Transocean staff on more than one rig visited. These included bullying, aggression, harassment, humiliation and intimidation, and were "causing some individuals to exhibit symptoms of work-related stress, with potential safety implications", the HSE says.

Responding to the allegations in a statement, Transocean said: "The HSE report confirmed that Transocean has demonstrated a commitment to fostering an organisational culture based on trust and respect that improves our safety and performance records. Third-party assessments such as those conducted by HSE and Lloyd's Register are a key part of the company's philosophy of continuous review and improvement."

Jake Molloy, regional organiser for the RMT's offshore branch in Aberdeen, said he was extremely alarmed by the report, but not surprised. "I have dealt with three cases where workers were unfairly dismissed by Transocean and in each one I have been able to win compensation for them," he said. But he feared that Transocean was far from unique, and said the increase in accidents reported by the HSE still almost certainly underestimated the true position.

"I know from the phone calls I get in this office that other really serious incidents are not being reported because of widespread bullying and intimidation. I cannot follow up these cases because it would expose the guys to losing their jobs," he said.

Molloy said he was aware of rigs with 19 different nationalities on board speaking a mixture of Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Italian and French. He feared that some staff did not have the language skills either to communicate well with each other or to understand safety instructions properly. It was not unusual for Filipinos and others to be racially abused.

The Guardian has spoken independently to foreign oil workers, who confirm they have faced bullying, intimidation and racism. One, who asked not to be named, said he recently witnessed offshore fires that he was told not to report as it could cause a fuss and endanger either his own job or those of his fellow crew members.

The Norwegian safety authorities have just published their own figures and expressed grave concern that the number of hydrocarbon "releases" from their rigs and platforms has gone up from 14 to 15 over the past 12 months.

The UK government announced in June it was increasing environmental inspections offshore but also boasted that "our safety and environmental regulatory regime is fit for purpose. It is already among the most robust in the world and the industry's record in the North Sea is strong."